This story has been updated with comments from John Cozzi Jr. and the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce.
The Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce’s 2015 Ambassador of the Year was dismissed Friday after writing on social media that certain illegal immigrants should be “shot on sight.”
John Cozzi Jr., president and CEO of Tailored Logistics Inc., wrote on Facebook that “if you are an illegal immigrant and committed a crime and you were deported by to (sic) your country and you are caught back in America illegally again, you should be shot on sight.”
“That will slow down illegal immigrants from coming back illegally,” he wrote.
The comment was one of three he made on a thread on the Facebook group Clark County Citizens for Good Governance after another person posted about a law enforcement agency not providing coats to children standing outside during an investigation.
After some backlash from others on the Facebook thread, Cozzi, 61, wrote that his brother was killed by an illegal immigrant with a criminal record who returned to the United States after being deported.
“The third time back is when he killed my brother trying to rob him,” he wrote. “Tell me again why he should not be shot on sight.”
The comments were posted shortly after midnight Thursday. When reached by phone Friday morning, Cozzi said he did not blame the chamber for his dismissal but defended his remarks against public vitriol.
“My comments were my personal comments, nothing to do with the chamber or my position as an ambassador,” he said. “When you stifle free speech, that’s the start of communism and Nazism, and that’s exactly what’s going on right now.”
“I have no problem with what I said, I believe what I said, and I stand by what I said,” he added.
Cozzi, a Chicago native, also said that he supported President Donald Trump’s wishes to withdraw federal money from cities offering sanctuary to illegal immigrants.
Ambassadors are the public face of the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce. They are volunteers, not paid staff members, and often can be seen wearing red coats at ribbon-cuttings and other events for local businesses. Cozzi had been an ambassador for five years and was named Ambassador of the Year in December 2015.
The chamber, which said its membership includes 1,100 businesses, said Friday morning that ambassadors are asked to “uphold the values and mission of the Chamber in our community, which includes an inclusive environment for our businesses and citizens.”
“John Cozzi Jr.’s statements do not reflect the GVCC as an organization and he is no longer associated with the ambassador team,” it said in a statement.
